


The Butterfly Effect

by MistMarauder



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Book 1: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Draco Has A Lot Of Friends, Draco Malfoy is a Little Shit, Dramatic Draco Malfoy, Gen, Harry Potter is Obsessed with Draco Malfoy, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Popular Draco Malfoy, Pre-Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Slytherin Draco Malfoy, They're eleven right now that comes wayyy later, This is not a joke, like so many
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-13 06:13:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28898727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MistMarauder/pseuds/MistMarauder
Summary: Getting half of his classmates to hate Harry Potter before they even got off the train wasn't how Draco Malfoy planned to start First Year, but he wasn't complaining.AKA - 'Draco Becomes Everyone's Friend Just To Piss Off Harry Potter'
Relationships: Draco Malfoy & Everyone, Draco Malfoy & Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy & Padma Patil, Draco Malfoy & Parvati Patil, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Hermione Granger & Draco Malfoy
Comments: 75
Kudos: 131





	1. The Train Ride

**Author's Note:**

> A long time ago, I [posted on Tumblr](https://mistmarauder.tumblr.com/post/169157792696/synonym-for-life-mistmarauder-give-me-a-draco) about how I really wanted a Popular!Draco fic.
> 
> And since no one else is going to write it for me, I'll just have to write it for myself.
> 
> It won't be nearly as good, but I have needs, damn it!

He hadn’t meant to do it.

He’d meant to sweep out with his most practiced sneer before hiding in an empty compartment with Vince and Greg to plot Potter and Weasley’s future demise.

It was all Greg’s fault, really.

If he hadn’t shifted next to him right at that exact moment and given Draco a clear view of the Patil twins walking in their direction, it never would have even occurred to him.

He didn’t really know them. He’d only met them thanks to a few boring political functions his parents dragged him to.

But he knew one thing.

They were  _ girls. _

And there was one thing he _knew_ was guaranteed to get a girl’s attention and get her on your side. Previous experiences with both Pansy and his mother had confirmed it.

The decision was made in a split second.

He spotted the matching falls of long, dark hair and silenced the tiny Draco in his mind who had immediately begun cackling before putting on the most pathetic face he could muster and pinching his thigh inside his pocket viciously to bring tears to his eyes.

“W-why are you being like this? I just wanted to be friends.”

“Get lost, Malfoy!” Weasley threw back before stepping up next to Potter. Potter was frowning at him now and beginning to look concerned while Greg and Vince were just looking horrified at this new turn of events.

But the show wasn’t for them, and the tiny Draco crowed in triumph when twin gasps came from beside Greg.

“What did you do?” One of the twins shrilled, pushing her way into the compartment. She had a pink butterfly barrette in her hair, and Draco had to stomp down the sudden urge to sneer at it.

Patil Number Two had pushed her way between Greg and Draco and was scowling darkly at the two boys in the compartment with her arms crossed over her chest.

Potter was blinking at Patil One seemingly bewildered, but Weasley seemed to register what this looked like and immediately began protesting.

“Wait! No! Malfoy was -”

“He’s  _ crying! _ We heard him before we came in here! He was just trying to be nice, and you were being jerks! You’re bullies!” Patil One interrupted, and Weasley’s jaw was opening and closing as he failed to come up with an adequate response.

“He started it!” Potter snapped out, finally seeming to catch on to what was happening.

Draco brought up his fist and rubbed at his watering eyes while sniffling and letting out a shuddering sob. Patil One looked back at the sound and seemed to get even more furious. Patil Two even went so far as to step slightly in front of Draco to somewhat shield him from Potter's view.

Tiny Draco’s victorious laughter was beginning to make it hard for actual Draco to keep his composure, but Patils One and Two were too distracted by Potter and Weasley's heated denials to notice.

Alarmingly though, Greg and Vince seemed to have gotten over their shock and had come up on either side of Patil Two with twin scowls, and Draco realized he was going to have to say something before things got out of control because the two idiots hadn't realized that Draco was _faking_.

Why did he have to do _everything_ _?_

Gently pushing Vince to the side so he was visible once more, he stepped up with the best wounded expression he had in his arsenal.

“It’s okay, Patil. If Potter and Weasley don’t want to be my friends, they don’t have to be. I’ll make others.”

Patil One's eyes had widened slightly at Potter's name before narrowing again, and she melted before immediately coming over to his side. “I’ll be your friend, Draco!”

Draco summoned a wobbly smile for her. “Really?”

“Of course,” she cooed latching on to his arm before shooting a dark glare at the two boys standing shocked in the compartment. “They don’t deserve your friendship anyway.”

Draco was getting tired of this and his eyes were starting to itch from the rubbing and tears, but he had come this far and shaking the girl off before dragging Greg and Vince away with his nose in the air would ruin all of his hard work.

“You really think so?” He asked softly, avoiding the glares being sent his way.

“Of course I do! Where are your trunks? Padma and I can walk you back to your compartment.” Alarm bells went off in Draco’s head at the thought of Patil One and the recently dubbed Padma Patil being in the same compartment as Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini, and he reached up with his free arm to remove her hand and step back with his most winning smile. He practiced it in the mirror at home, and it never failed with Mother. As expected, Patil One was looking at him like she wanted to bundle him up and feed him chocolate frogs in a corner somewhere.

“That’s okay, Patil. Greg and Vince can walk back with me. You two should get back to your friends.”  _ ‘Yes. Get back to your friends and tell them everything you witnessed here like good little gossips.’  _ Tiny Draco was standing atop a tiny Weasley and Potter holding a trophy in the air at this point, but actual Draco pretended not to notice.

“Oh, Draco. Call me Parvati! We’re friends now, right?” Draco kept his fake smile plastered on his face while nodding.

“Friends, of course! Parvati then.” He was going to have to stop referring to her as Patil One in his head if he wanted to remember that.

Greg and Vince had stepped outside of the compartment by now and were glaring at the sputtering Potter and Weasley as Patils One and Two stepped up on either side of Draco to escort him out as well.

Draco couldn’t help the triumphant smirk he shot over his shoulder at the two boys being left behind before wiping the expression off his face and turning his head back around.

He could hear Potter and Weasley start to shout something before Padma released his arm and turned back to slam the compartment door in their faces.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay, Draco?” Parvati was looking at him worriedly, and he rushed to reassure her.

“I’ll be fine. I promise! Go back to your friends. We’ll see each other when we get to school!” His face was starting to hurt from all this smiling, and he took a moment to thank Merlin that Vince and Greg knew when to be silent. The girls seemed reluctant to leave but were eventually convinced before Draco quickly led the two remaining boys back to where they’d left Pansy and Blaise.

Pansy was flipping through the newest copy of Witch Weekly and Blaise was looking over her shoulder at it when Draco stormed back in sliding the door shut behind Vince and Greg with a smirk.

“Why are you making that face?” Pansy asked looking up from her magazine with a raised eyebrow. Draco flopped dramatically on the seat beside her before laying down with his head in her lap. She rolled her eyes and handed the magazine to Blaise with a huff before focusing on Draco again. “Did you find Potter?”

“Oh, we found him alright, and he was sitting with a  _ Weasley. _ ” Pansy’s nose wrinkled down at him and she sneered as she started running her fingers through his hair.

“Did you rescue him then?”

“Oh no. See, Potter apparently thinks he’s too good for a Malfoy.” Pansy blinked in surprise as Blaise finally seemed distracted enough to abandon the magazine and focus on the conversation as well. “So, I may have caused a bit of a scene.”

“Draco…” Pansy said, “what did you do?”

“Let’s just say that by the time we get to Hogwarts, all of the girls in our year are going to  _ hate _ Harry Potter.”


	2. Facsimile

Draco should have been prepared for it when the train finally arrived at Hogwarts, and he exited with his friends. However, he was still surprised when a head of dark hair appeared in his line of sight, and a decidedly non-Pansy shaped girl latched onto his arm.

“Draco!”

The boy barely managed to stop himself from scowling in response as he was sharply pulled to the side where the other Patil was waiting. _Wait._ The Patils had names. He panicked slightly as he tried to remember what they were, but a third girl interrupted and introduced herself before said panic could make its way onto to his face.

“Hi, Draco! I’m Lavender. Parvati told me about what happened. Do you want to join our boat?”

Before he could make his excuses and scurry back to the others, Pansy’s voice came from behind.

“Go ahead, Dray! It’s only four to a boat anyway. We’ll share one, and you can ride with your other friends!”

Draco snapped his neck around and looked at her pleadingly, but she just snickered behind her hand and grabbed the sleeve of Blaise’s robe before dragging him towards one of the boats. Vince and Greg exchanged looks before shrugging and following behind her.

Abandoned!

Betrayed!

How dare they leave him here with these… _girls._

Draco took a split second to realize that argument would not endear him to Pansy in the least before pasting a sickeningly fake smile on his face and turning back to Lavender and the Patils.

“What are we waiting for then?” The girls grinned brightly back before urging him toward another boat, and he somehow ended up with Lavender attached to his arm in fear as the Patil twins took the other side.

“How are you feeling, Draco?” That was Butterfly Patil. What number was she? Draco couldn’t remember. He would just have to talk to them without using their names for now.

“Oh, I’m okay! My friends certainly helped me feel a bit better about what happened. I just don’t understand what I did to make those two hate me so much.” Draco was laying it on a bit thick at this point, but the girls didn’t seem to notice. They all just made sympathetic noises before Butterfly Patil responded.

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Draco. They’re just jerks.” She reached over to pat his arm supportively, and Draco felt the strain in his cheeks as he forced himself to smile at her.

“You have us, Draco. No need to worry! We won’t let them bully you!” That was Lavender, who was now smiling up at him from his side. His back was rigidly straight, and he was honestly amazed that they hadn’t picked up on how uncomfortable he was. Tiny Draco wasn’t helping matters either as he was currently shaking his fist and insulting the girl for daring to assume a Malfoy would need her help. Actual Draco just turned his bland smile towards Lavender instead.

“Thank you so much. That means a lot to me. I was afraid others would react the same way, and I really didn’t want everyone at school to hate me.” He put on his most practiced sorrowful look, and Serious Patil took this chance to chime in.

“You don’t have to worry about that. We told quite a few others how they were behaving, and they were just as disgusted as we were. They won’t be able to turn anyone against you. I promise.” She was nodding seriously, and Tiny Draco switched from ranting to crowing victoriously as actual Draco shot her a wobbly smile.

“You didn’t have to do that…”

“Of course we did. They were horrible to you! It wasn’t right.” Serious Patil obviously had a strong moral compass, and Butterfly Patil just smiled and nodded alongside her. He wanted to drag this Potter and Weasel hate out as long as he could though, so he’d have to watch what he said. He had no doubt that his usual haughtiness would turn Serious Patil against him in a millisecond, and her sister and others would follow.

No wonder his father hated networking.

This was the _worst._

Thankfully, it didn’t take long for them to reach the shore, and Draco scrambled off the boat dislodging Lavender - _‘What was her last name!?’_ \- and shooting a brilliant but fake smile at the three girls as he prepared to make his excuses and escape.

Before he could, a blonde girl with pigtails appeared blocking his view of the girls as they exited the boat, and a brown-haired boy with an alarmingly wide smile was next to her.

“Hi! You’re Draco Malfoy, right?”

“Um…” His mother would be horrified if she could see him now, blinking like an idiot at being asked his own name. “Yes?”

“Oh, I heard what happened on the train. That was terrible of them to treat you that way. Even if they didn’t want to be friends with you, there was no need for them to be so mean! I’m Hannah, by the way. Hannah Abbott. It’s nice to meet you!” The girl was beaming at him now and holding her hand out to him expectantly.

He reluctantly reached his own hand back to meet hers. He’d heard of this girl. The Abbotts were part of the Sacred-Twenty-Eight, but she was a _Half-Blood._

 _‘It’s okay,’_ he thought to himself. _‘I’m not going to actually be her friend. This is all part of the plan. It’s only temporary.’_ Tiny Draco was a horrified, panicking mess right now at the idea of what his father would say seeing him _shaking hands_ with a _Half-Blood,_ but he soothed himself with the reminder that his father would never know.

“I’m Wayne Hopkins!” The brown-haired boy spoke up as Draco released Abbott’s hand. “I was with Hannah when she heard. That’s so messed up - making someone cry before we even get to the castle. Oh! I hope you aren’t embarrassed that we know you were crying! You have nothing to be ashamed of!” Hopkins was shaking Draco’s hand up and down through the entirety of his spiel, as Draco’s face became redder and redder in humiliation.

This was his own fault. He knew that, but somehow it hadn’t clicked that his schoolmates would think him not just sensitive but a _crybaby_ as well. He spotted red out of the corner of his eye and glanced over to see Weasley scowling at him as Potter looked around wide-eyed and bewildered. Did Potter _ever_ understand what was going on around him?

Spotting the Weasel was probably the only reason he was able to bite his tongue and refrain from verbally destroying the boy in front of him who still hadn’t released his hand.

He’d taken lessons from his mother in how to insult someone in ten words or less, and he couldn’t even use them!

He pulled his hand back from Hopkins and stuck it in his robe pocket as he tried to think of a response that wasn't identical to Tiny Draco’s screeching diatribe about Malfoy Honor, and he was saved from having to come up with something by Butterfly Patil chiming in from behind him. She was quickly becoming his favorite Patil. 

“Of course he’s not ashamed! Why should he be? They were the ones acting like jerks!” She shot a look of loathing over to where Potter and Weasley were standing. Weasley’s face turned almost the same color as his hair, and he looked as though he would stomp over and start a fight any second.

And then, to Draco’s _extreme_ delight, a frowning brown-haired girl pushed her way through some of the others and started scolding the two in front of _everyone._

“I heard what you two did! You might be famous, Harry Potter, but that doesn’t mean you get to act like a bully! I don’t care how many books you're in! And you! Ronald Weasley - you are just _horrible!_ I hope that boy tells the teachers on you. I’m almost tempted to do it myself, but-”

Before she could continue ranting, a tall witch Draco recognized as Professor McGongall from his parents’ descriptions appeared to interrupt.

It was honestly both _tragic and hilarious._ Not even Draco could have foreseen the sheer level of embarrassment that took over not only the girl’s face but Potter’s and Weasley’s faces as well when the Professor scolded them all for fighting and making a ruckus.

Butterfly Patil leaned in and spoke quietly in his ear as the Professor continued to berate them.

“Well, she might not be so bad. I wonder what her name is.”

Draco stomped down his immediate response of ‘Who cares? You can tell just by looking that she’s a Mudblood,’ and choked out a weak “Yeah, me too,” before the Professor hustled them in.

The sheer relief at being so quickly sorted into Slytherin almost made him want to cry actual tears. How long could he keep this up? He didn’t even know anymore.

Pansy joined him almost immediately, and she was smirking at him while patting his shoulder sympathetically.

“You brought this on yourself, Draco.”

“Shut up, Pansy!”

He watched as Butterfly Patil - _‘Parvati! McGonagall literally just said it!’_ \- went to Gryffindor while her scowling sister was sent to Ravenclaw.

Lavender Brown was already seated at the Gryffindor table when Parvati went to join her, and they both met his eyes and grinned at him from across the room.

Oh, dear Merlin.

He had been friendly with _Gryffindors._

He took a quick moment to wonder if it would be worth transferring to Durmstrang before Potter _also_ got sorted into Gryffindor and Draco was suddenly struck with the amazing realization that Potter was going to be despised by half of his housemates.

Even the bushy-haired angry girl from earlier was at that table.

This was the greatest thing he could have ever imagined!

She was scowling at Potter as he took a seat among all his screaming fans, and Draco saw Parvati lean over towards her and offer out her hand. She was obviously introducing himself, and Draco probably would have kept staring like a total stalker if Pansy hadn’t taken that exact moment to poke him hard in the cheek.

“Draco! Pay attention!” He slapped a hand to his face and spun to glare at her.

“I _am_ paying attention! Keep your hands to yourself, Parkinson!” Pansy just rolled her eyes, and Draco took a moment to bemoan the fact that she had become desensitized to his anger over the years. It was much funnier when they were younger and she’d get all huffy and start screaming at him.

Ah. The good old days.

Thankfully, once the sorting was done, he was surrounded by his actual friends, and he could moan to Blaise and Pansy as Vince and Greg sat across from him hiding him from view of the other tables.

“Why did I think this was a good idea!? I got defended by a Mudblood, Pansy! _A Mudblood!”_ Draco was hissing at her and glancing around to make sure no one was paying him any attention.

“I knew it,” a voice spoke up from Pansy’s other side, and Draco quickly leaned forward and met the amused gaze of Millicent Bulstrode. The girl was smirking at them, and Draco immediately went into damage control mode.

“I have no idea what you mean, Bulstrode.”

“Oh save it, Malfoy. You’re not as slick as you think you are, and I’ve seen how you've behaved over the years. I _figured_ there was something suspicious going on when I heard some boys had made you _cry_ on the train.” Draco immediately dropped all pretenses and sneered at her.

“And what do you plan to do about it? Do you really think anyone will believe you over me and the Patils? You’re a _Half-Blood,_ Bulstrode. I’m not even sure how you got sorted into our _house.”_ Millicent just rolled her eyes at him before responding. 

“Relax. I’m not going to ruin all your fun.” Draco blinked back, startled before narrowing his eyes at the bigger girl.

“Let me guess. You want something in return. This act is only temporary, so keeping it a secret isn’t worth as much as you might think, _Millicent._ ” Draco dragged out her first name as his eyes went flinty.

“Of course I want something,” Millicent scoffed, “but I don’t think you’ll mind much since you’ll be putting on a show for everyone for a while anyway.” Draco narrowed his eyes at her.

“What is it then?”

“Your public backing.”

“Excuse me!?”

“Oh stop shouting, Malfoy. I just mean that you’re going to acknowledge me with respect in public. It will help me gain a foothold in this bigoted nightmare of a house.” Draco opened his mouth immediately to decline and start ranting about the injustice of Slytherin’s reputation before Pansy slapped her hand over his open mouth and stopped him.

“He agrees.” Draco let out a startled sound of dissent from behind her hand as Millicent gave an ugly smile.

“Yes. I thought he might.” After ripping Pansy’s hand away from his mouth, Draco interrupted before this could go any further.

“Absolutely not! That would be an overture of friendship between our houses! I wouldn’t be able to go back on that without causing a scandal, and this is only going to last a few weeks anyway. No. No way. Expose me. I don’t care.” Draco crossed his arms over his chest and sat back glowering as Pansy turned and looked at him like he was an idiot.

“Draco!” She hissed. “The Bulstrodes are part of the Sacred-Twenty-Eight, and your family has no current alliances with them. She may be one of their Half-Blood bastards, but they’ve claimed her! They can’t step away from her alliance with you without disowning her. This will benefit you both!” Draco paused for a moment before looking over at Millicent’s smug face with new consideration.

She might make a pretty good Slytherin after all.

“...Fine.” he relented. “But allies! Not friends!” Millicent rolled her eyes before turning back to her plate.

“I have no idea why you’d think I want to be friends with you anyway, Malfoy. You’re just a means to an end.”

She really was trying to crawl her way into his cold black little heart.

“You know… You’re not so bad, Bulstrode.” She raised an eyebrow at him before swallowing the food in her mouth.

“Don’t expect me to return the sentiment.” Draco felt his first real smile in hours start to crawl across his face.

“Perish the thought.”


	3. Volatile

Draco was beginning to regret being such an incredible genius. While seeing Potter and Weasley scowling at him around every corner was immensely satisfying, he couldn’t openly enjoy the things he normally would without setting off alarm bells.

Severus had absolutely eviscerated Potter in Potions, and Draco had to actually bite the inside of his mouth to keep from cackling. He’d even gone further and elbowed Vince and Greg to shut them up when the Gryffindors started sending them dirty looks.

Even Draco’s favorite Patil seemed upset by Severus’ remarks, and she didn’t even _like_ Potter. Ah well. Not everyone could appreciate his Godfather’s intellect the way he could.

That being said - it was becoming more and more difficult to avoid being cornered by various first years all attempting to “be his friend”. He’d spent more time hiding out in the Slytherin Common Room whining to Pansy than he cared to admit, and knowing that he was about to be thrust into Flying Lessons with the Gryffindors had him debating whether or not he should fake being ill and go to the Hospital Wing.

It was only his overwhelming desire to get back on a broom that finally got him to drag himself outside where he'd have to continue to play nice.

Parvati immediately came up to him and started chatting before dragging him over to take the broom beside hers. Apparently she and the angry girl with the terrible hair were on decent terms because Parvati waved her over to the broom on her opposite side while Lavender took the broom on the other side of Draco and joined Parvati’s up until then one-sided conversation.

He was surrounded by _girls._ Not just any girls but _Gryffindor girls._

He spotted Pansy and Blaise leaning on each other to stay standing while they laughed uproariously and pointed in his direction.

“What do you think, Draco?” Oops. He was supposed to be paying attention. He immediately stuck a practiced smile on his face before snapping his head around to the side and looking at Parvati directly.

“Sounds great!” She smiled back at him.

“I knew you’d come! I’ll tell Padma to save room for one more. We’re meeting in the library after dinner!” Draco stiffened in alarm. _‘Wait, what did I just agree to!?’_

“And what… um… what all will we do while we’re there?”

“We mainly just compare notes and work on homework. Help each other out when we need to. You know. Ordinary study group things.” Parvati shrugged at the end of her last sentence and smiled at him again as Draco forced himself to smile back.

He’d agreed to join a study group with the Patils and Merlin only knew who else. Pansy was going to _kill him._

Tiny Draco was sobbing in self-pity. Actual Draco ignored him and pointed at the girl on Parvati’s other side to change the subject.

“And who is this?” Parvati lit up before reaching over and dragging the girl closer to join in their conversation. Draco could tell by the long-suffering expression on the girl’s face that while Parvati may have claimed her, she was wishing she had other friends. That was fair. Parvati was _a lot._

“This is Hermione!” Parvati exclaimed.

“Hermione?”

“Granger. Hermione Granger,” the other girl said speaking up for the first time. “You’re the boy from the train, right? I’m so sorry about Harry and Ron. They had no right to treat you that way.” Draco took in her stiff stance - the arms she had crossed over her chest and the stubborn set of her jaw. _‘I can work with this.’_

“It’s not your fault. Nice to meet you Granger,” Draco responded with a winning smile. Granger seemed to blink back in surprise at the sight, and Lavender took the chance to join in the conversation and change the subject.

“I’ve never actually flown before. Have any of you?”

“I haven’t,” Granger said nervously, “and it seems extremely dangerous. Should they really let First Years up on brooms?”

“Don’t worry, Hermione. You’ll be fine. It’s fun!” Parvati was looking about as excited as Draco felt. She was _definitely_ his favorite Patil.

They weren’t able to continue talking as Hooch decided it was a good time to start shouting directions to the class. Draco was thankful for her in that moment though seeing as his face was starting to hurt again from all the smiling. Everyone was too busy yelling at their brooms now to pay his expression any attention, and he worked his jaw a bit as he held his broom and looked around at the rest of the class.

Potter was holding his already too. _Tosser._

Then suddenly - before Draco could work up a proper glare in Potter's direction - Neville Longbottom was in the air. He was in the air, and then he was crashing. 

Most of the Slytherins immediately burst into laughter, and Draco wanted to join them. Merlin, he did. He actually had to stomp on his own foot to distract himself as Granger started babbling loudly.

“I knew this was dangerous! We shouldn't even be out here. They should have an age requirement! Sixteen at the very least -”

“He’ll be fine, Granger. Stop freaking out.” Granger frowned at him.

“Our classmate just got injured! How can you be so calm?” Draco tried hard not to scowl, but he wasn’t sure he succeeded since her frown actually got deeper.

“Injuries are common while flying and during Quidditch. It was minor. He’ll be fine.” His words were clipped, but they seemed to get through to her, and they both turned to look at where the Slytherins and Gryffindors had begun squabbling in Hooch’s absence.

He hadn’t even noticed Parvati had left his side.

Damn it, Granger.

Blaise was holding something, and somehow Parvati had pushed her way to the front of the crowd trying to get back whatever it was. Potter and Weasley were there too shouting and waving their arms around like buffoons. Well, the arm waving was mostly Weasley, but they were still both buffoons as far as he was concerned.

Draco stomped over and pushed his way next to Parvati before interrupting Pansy who had a look on her face that Draco recognized. She was about to say something extraordinarily bitchy, and while Draco was normally _all for that,_ he needed her to keep her trap shut for now.

“What’s going on?” Parvati spun around and looked at him.

“Zabini won’t give back Neville’s Remembrall!” Draco looked over at Blaise who looked back at him with furrowed eyebrows and a scowl.

Draco was either going to have to blow everything open right this second and openly side with the Slytherins or risk Blaise being angry at him later.

…

Blaise’s anger it was.

“Blaise, just give it back.” Blaise glared at him, and Draco was sure he was getting ready to fight him on it and make this day so much worse than it already was when Millicent stepped up and neatly snatched the ball from his hands.

Draco stifled a laugh as Blaise actually squawked and turned as though he would demand it back before cringing back at the dark look on the larger girl’s face. Millicent wasn’t someone to mess with, and Blaise knew it. He turned and stomped over to stand next to Theodore Nott who was watching everything play out with a shrewd expression, and Millicent turned and offered the ball for Parvati to take.

“Sorry about that.” Parvati looked surprised at a Slytherin actually apologizing to her, and Draco would’ve been offended if he weren’t so surprised himself. _'Millicent, please. We are in public! How embarrassing!'_

“Thanks, Bulstrode...”

“Zabini’s your friend, isn’t he Malfoy?” A dark voice came from the side, and all at once, the group turned to face a scowling Potter.

He’d have to play this carefully.

_‘Damn it, Blaise!’_

“We’ve been friends for a long time. That doesn’t mean I’m okay with what he did. I’ll talk to him about it later.” There. That was suitably diplomatic. Granger looked satisfied, and she seemed to be the smartest of the lot.

Potter - was of course - not at all satisfied.

“Why didn't you speak up and say something?” He demanded. Draco frowned at him and resisted the urge to raise his voice back.

“I told him to give it back, and Millicent grabbed it before anything else could be said. Why are you yelling at me?”

“You’re a total fake, Malfoy! We both know it. I don’t know what game you’re playing, but I’m surprised you didn’t take his Remembrall and try to smash it yourself!” Weasley joined in loudly.

“Don’t you talk to him like that!” Pansy snapped. Defending Draco was an automatic reflex of hers. He had such good friends! Except Blaise. Blaise was a bad friend right now.

“Draco hasn’t done _anything_ to you two! Leave him alone!” Parvati shouted. Voices began to yell over each other, and Draco watched in fascination as Potter tried to defend himself and Weasley turned so red he looked as though he’d catch fire.

“He’s evil!” Weasley screeched, pointing at Draco’s face. “He’s a slimy git, and if you’d all stop mooning over him, you’d see it!”

Parvati was positively shrieking at this point and was in Weasley’s face before Draco could blink. Then it happened. Weasley put his hands on both of Parvati’s shoulders, and in an attempt to get her away from him, he shoved her back so hard that she hit the ground.

Gasps went up from all sides, and even Potter stepped back looking horrified.

“Wait. I didn’t - I didn’t mean - I -” Weasley stepped forward and reached out a hand like he would help the girl up, but Draco interrupted and slapped away his hand before he could get any closer.

“Get away from her!” Weasley stumbled back, and Draco made the terrible mistake of turning to help the sniffling Parvati up from the ground himself and leaving his back wide open. Before he could do anything, he was flying face first into the grass with Weasley yelling from on top of him.

“Ron! Get off of him!” That was Granger’s voice. Defended by a Mudblood - _again._ What would his father say?

Weasley was sitting on his back crushing him into the ground and trying to argue with the other First Years who had gathered around them when suddenly his weight was gone and a hush fell over the entire class.

“ _What_ is going on here?” Hooch snapped. She had apparently returned while they were all distracted and levitated Weasley away.

“It’s Malfoy’s fault!” The red-head yelled, and Draco sat up and lifted his hand to his face only for it to come away covered in blood. His nose was _bleeding._ Weasley was a _barbarian!_ Scowling, Draco stood up with as much dignity as he could with a bloody nose and grass stains on his trousers as Parvati and Pansy fussed over him and tried to brush the grass from his robes.

“That’s not true!” Granger shouted. “Draco didn’t do anything. You pushed Parvati to the ground and then tackled him!”

“Well, they stole Neville’s Remembrall!” Weasley shouted back at her.

“That was Zabini, and Bulstrode already got it back for us!” Granger shrieked. Draco wondered if Hooch was just going to let them scream at each other all day and put on his most wounded expression for when she finally decided to address him. He was the victim here, damn it!

“You,” Hooch said, pointing at Potter. “What happened here?” All eyes turned to Potter, and Draco waited for him to start pointing his finger at Draco as well. He wondered if the word of everyone here was enough to override Harry Potter.

Ugh. Celebrities.

“Um. Well. Hermione was telling the truth…” Potter shot Weasley an apologetic look as he stared at Potter wide-eyed and betrayed. Apparently, friends or not, Potter wasn’t going to lie about Weasley shoving a girl and tackling Draco in front of twenty students. Probably a smart decision.

“Is that correct?” Hooch asked, looking around the rest of the class. The nodding and mumbled affirmations seemed to convince her, and she spun back to Weasley with a barked “A month of detention for attacking other students and then lying about it! And I'll be writing home to your parents as well!”

All of the blood seemed to rush out of Weasley’s face, but he finally seemed to understand it would be better to keep his mouth shut and didn't respond.

“Madam Hooch, Draco needs the Hospital Wing!” Parvati called out, and Hooch turned to examine his bloody face before nodding.

“Off you go, Mr. Malfoy. Go get fixed up. Ms. Patil, accompany him.” Parvati looked delighted and glared at Weasley before linking an arm through Draco’s and leading him away.

“All this, and we didn’t even get the chance to fly…” Draco muttered darkly. If he’d known he was just going to end up in the Hospital Wing _anyway,_ he’d have gone with his fake illness idea earlier and saved himself all this trouble.

“What was that?” Parvati asked.

Draco just shook his head and pressed the sleeve of his robe against his still bleeding nose.

This was the worst Thursday _ever._ And he still had to meet the Patils for their study group after dinner. It was nowhere close to being over.

Tiny Draco was drowning in self-pity tears at this point.

At least Actual Draco could take pleasure in knowing that Weasley got detention, and everyone had mostly forgotten Blaise being a little shit and almost ruining all of Draco’s carefully laid plans.

All in all, it was still a victory.


	4. Interhouse Cooperation

“Draco! How are you feeling?” Pansy exclaimed as the blond slid into his seat at the Slytherin table that evening.

“I’m fine,” Draco said, waving her off. He’d had enough coddling from Parvati already. She had plied him with a disgusting amount of chocolate and kept him thoroughly entertained by ranting about how terrible Weasley was and how she hoped he’d be expelled and sent to work on a farm. Draco hadn’t laughed that hard since before coming to Hogwarts.

“It serves you right!” Blaise snapped out, pointing his fork at Draco’s face. “Slytherins are supposed to stick together, Malfoy!” Draco had to stop himself from laughing at the frustrated pout on the other boy’s face and took a slow breath while he organized his thoughts.

“You weren’t exactly acting like a Slytherin yourself, Zabini. Not exactly subtle, stealing Longbottom’s trinket in front of the entire class. You’re actually _lucky_ Weasley is such a brute or you’d probably have lost us points and be serving detention yourself.” Blaise had the decency to look slightly abashed at that, but he opened his mouth to argue anyway.

“But we’re your _friends,_ Draco! You picked that blood-traitor Patil over us!”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Blaise. I picked her over _you._ ” He heard Millicent fail to muffle a snort from her seat on Pansy’s other side, and Blaise obviously heard it as well if his scowl in her direction was any indication.

“How long do you plan to keep this up, Draco?” Blaise snapped, obviously choosing to disregard Draco’s previous statement. Ah. Back to first names. He was off the hook. Draco thought about the question for a moment and then shrugged.

“No idea. Until I get bored of watching people throw hate at Potter and Weasley, I suppose.”

“That’s never going to happen,” Blaise said solemnly. Draco wondered if he realized that solemn wasn’t a good look on him but didn’t interrupt. “You hate them. Their misery brings you _joy.”_

“This is true,” Draco responded flippantly, “but you know how easily I get _bored,_ Blaise. I’ll be looking for entertainment elsewhere soon enough.” Blaise’s eyes took on an interested gleam at this, but Draco refused to answer any of his probing questions throughout the rest of dinner. Pansy and Millicent were speaking in low voices next to him, but he didn’t bother trying to make out what they were saying. 

It wasn’t long until people started to trickle out of the Great Hall, and Draco steeled himself before turning and addressing Pansy.

“I won’t be going back to the Common Room with you. I’m meeting a few people in the library.” Pansy stared at him before narrowing her eyes.

“You mean Patil and Brown,” she said bluntly. Draco nodded, and Pansy rolled her eyes. “Fine. Go _study_ with the Gryffindors. You’ll be crawling back to us soon enough.”

Draco watched as she stood up and left with Blaise and a few others before looking at Millicent who just raised an eyebrow at him and took another bite of her dessert. He sighed but stood up to go meet Parvati and Lavender by the doors to the Hall once Parvati waved him over.

“So, who all is going to be there?” Draco asked as they started walking together towards the library.

“Padma of course,” Parvati began, and Draco barely stopped himself from interrupting with a confused “Who?” when he remembered Padma was the other Patil. “Michael Corner and Mandy Brocklehurst will be there too, and they’re both Ravenclaws. They’re okay, I guess. Padma likes them well enough.”

“So two Gryffindors and three Ravenclaws then…”

“And a Slytherin!” Lavender chimed in, and Draco shot her an irritated glance. He didn’t want to get roped into this long-term.

“Oh, right! Draco too, obviously!” Parvati threw back at her friend with a grin. Draco let the two girls continue chatting and just followed along quietly with simple hums of agreement whenever they looked to him for a response.

The library didn’t have many people in it, but that wasn’t exactly surprising. It was only the second week of school, and the professors hadn’t really handed much out in the way of assignments. It didn’t take long for the three to spot Padma Patil at a table talking quietly with two other Ravenclaws that Draco assumed had to be Corner and Brocklehurst.

Brocklehurst was such a mouthful really. That family should change their name. Draco was shaken out of his thoughts when they arrived at the table and Padma looked up with a small smile and a quiet “Hello, Malfoy! I’m glad you could join us!”

Brocklehurst seemed to disagree if her suspicious glare was anything to go by. Corner just looked indifferent.

“I was happy to be invited,” Draco responded smoothly before sliding into the middle seat as Lavender and Parvati settled on either side of him. He was so used to being in the middle of things that he didn’t notice how strange this seating choice was until Padma and the other Ravenclaws all gave him bemused glances before looking over at Parvati. Parvati just grinned back at them, and Draco realized he had taken the spot directly across from her sister - a seat which any logical person would have allowed her to take. He felt his cheeks burn at his etiquette blunder and quickly tried to divert everyone’s attention away from himself. “So, what are you all working on?”

Padma looked at him for a moment longer before shaking her head and pushing her parchment across the table so he could read it.

“We’re doing a final review of our Potions essays before we turn them into Professor Snape tomorrow,” she said, and Draco proceeded to read what she’d written with raised eyebrows. She’d obviously worked hard on this, and he couldn’t help but be impressed. The essay had been easy for him of course. Severus being his godfather meant he’d been tutored in Potions from a young age, but if this was an example of the work quality she produced on a regular basis, this study group thing might be more beneficial than he originally thought.

“I just see one mistake,” Draco said blandly as he finished reading, and Padma looked appalled as she scrambled to grab her parchment back from him.

“What? Where? I’ve checked this essay four times!” Draco couldn’t help the amused snort that escaped, and he pointedly ignored Mandy Brocklehurst’s glare as he reached over and pointed to her second to last paragraph.

“Right here. You put clockwise, but it should be counter-clockwise. That’s all.” Padma blinked at her parchment before looking up at him, and Draco graced her with a practiced smile.

“Oh, thank you…” she said before looking back down and grabbing her quill to make the correction. Draco was surprised she just took him at his word instead of checking behind him. He could have been sabotaging her for all she knew.

“Can you check mine too?” Corner asked in a bored tone, and things just seemed to flow from there.

Draco would be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy himself. Parvati and Lavender thanked him profusely for every little tidbit of information he gave them. They reminded him of Crups if he were being honest, and Padma and Corner were actually good study partners. He didn’t even mind Broklehurst much really - once she had gotten over her apparent suspicion of him.

A few smiles and some empty flattery was all it really took to win her over. Ravenclaws were so easy. Praise their intelligence, and they preened like peacocks.

Even Tiny Draco was enjoying Actual Draco's subtle manipulations when Parvati pointed past Draco at another table and distracted them all mid-sentence.

“Hey, look. It’s Hermione.” Draco saw Lavender grimace out of the corner of his eye and couldn’t help but agree. The girl may have defended him and all, but she was _irritating._ “Does she always study by herself? Do any of you know?”

“I think so,” Padma responded absently, continuing to scribble something on her Transfiguration homework. “I’ve never seen her sitting with anyone, and I’m in here almost every day.”

“Hmm…” Parvati hummed, and Draco’s alarm bells were ringing. He did _not_ like the sound of that. Apparently, Lavender didn’t either, and she leaned forward to look past Draco at Parvati before hissing at her.

“No! We get enough of her already! She’s not joining the study group too!” Brocklehurst was watching the conversation with clear interest while Corner didn’t seem to register a conversation was even happening. Apparently nothing outside of his book on fungi existed at the moment.

“She defended Draco earlier,” Parvati said as though that meant anything at all. Lavender’s red face and loud huff suggested it did indeed mean something, but all Draco knew was that Lavender was apparently backing down and Parvati seemed on the verge of actually inviting a Mudblood to _sit with them in public._

“She seems busy, Parvati. It would be rude to interrupt her.” Parvati just hummed and didn’t take her eyes off the other girl. “She probably prefers to study by herself anyway. From what I’ve seen in class, she’s a bit ahead of everyone else anyway.” And boy did that just _burn_ to admit. Granger was obnoxious and self-righteous, but she was _smart._ Draco was just hoping her tendency to act like a complete know-it-all was a turn-off to Parvati instead of another reason to invite her over. However, he hadn’t taken into account the rest of his audience.

“Oh!” Brocklehurst burst out. “That’s true! She’s at the top of our class so far from what I understand.” This got Padma’s attention immediately, and she looked up from her homework over to where Granger was sitting and scribbling furiously on her own. Corner… Well, Corner was still in the world of fungi apparently.

“You’re right,” Padma said considering. “She’s a bit annoying, but she’d obviously be a good addition to any study group…” Something seemed to register on her face then and she turned quickly to look at her sister. “Wait. What do you mean she _defended_ Draco? Defended Draco from what?”

There were so many people using his first name in this school! His mother would have a heart attack.

“Oh! You didn’t hear?” Parvati asked excitedly, meeting her sister’s gaze. Padma just looked at her.

“Shouldn’t _you_ have told her?” Draco asked with a frown. “You were with me in the Hospital Wing for hours earlier, and Weasley pushed you down in front of everyone.”

“He did what!?” Padma shouted, and Pince shushed them harshly from her place in the stacks while Granger shot a glare over at their table. “He did _what?”_ She asked more quietly when Pince went back to whatever it was she was doing.

“Oh, don’t worry about me,” Parvati said, flapping her hand as if to wave away her sister’s concern. “He just shoved me, and I tripped. Worry about _Draco._ Weasley actually jumped on him, and his nose _broke_ when his face hit the ground! Hooch gave him detention for a month and is writing home to his parents!” Parvati seemed absolutely delighted to be the one to share this story. Corner had actually looked up from his book - a miracle! - and Brocklehurst was gaping at her.

“Weasley shoved a girl?” Corner asked, visibly surprised. Padma was fuming and looked about two seconds from throwing herself out of her chair and hunting the red-head down on her own.

“He did!” Lavender said before Parvati could respond. “He’s absolutely awful!”

“Don’t forget he broke Draco’s face,” Parvati added pointedly, trying to distract her sister. Padma shook her head slightly before focusing back on Parvati.

“And what did Granger have to do with any of this?”

“Oh, right!” Parvati replied. “She screamed at him in front of the entire class and told Hooch everything when he tried to lie about what happened. Even Potter had to admit she was telling the truth!” Padma looked grim and glanced back over to where Granger was sitting.

 _‘Do something!’_ Tiny Draco shrieked. _‘They’re going to invite her over!’_

The problem was... Draco couldn’t think of any reason beyond “She’s a filthy Mudblood!” as to why they shouldn’t, and he had a strong feeling that wouldn’t go over well with his current audience.

None of them were paying him any attention at the moment thankfully because he was sure the somewhat sick feeling in his stomach was written plainly on his face.

All of this was _going_ to get back to his father eventually, and Lucius Malfoy was not the type to let things slide. He was going to have to get his mother to run interference. He grimaced. Running to his mother again like he was five and just scraped his knee didn’t exactly make him feel all that grown-up, but needs must.

“I’ll go talk to her,” Parvati said before standing, and Draco was dragged back to the conversation at hand. Lavender looked somewhat resigned, so Draco figured it was safe to assume Parvati was indeed going to recruit Granger for their little group. Corner was whispering to Padma, and it seemed like he was trying to calm her down. Brocklehurst was just watching Parvati as she interrupted Granger’s frantic scribbles and began to talk to her quietly.

“I’m going to get him for this,” Padma said quietly, and Draco’s head whipped back to look at her.

“What?”

“Weasley. He doesn’t get to put his hands on my _sister!”_ Her eyes were shooting daggers and she glanced around the room before meeting Draco’s wide-eyed gaze. “Don’t even get me started on how he’s been treating you, either, but Parvati is my responsibility. She’s family, and he’s going to pay for this.”

Draco continued to stare at her, shocked beyond reason that a Ravenclaw was speaking so clearly and seriously about getting revenge on another student. He wasn’t sure why he was that surprised though really. It’s not like this was a Hufflepuff he was talking to.

“Um, hi…” All of their heads turned in unison to see a nervous Granger standing next to Parvati with an absolutely enormous pile of books in her arms. How she managed to carry them all, Draco didn’t know.

“Hello. Hermione, right?” That was Corner, and Granger met his gaze and nodded. Corner smiled at her, and Draco blinked. That was the first smile he’d seen from the other boy the entire time they’d been there. Padma waved her wand and pulled a seventh chair from nearby before settling it at the end of the table between Parvati and Corner.

“I hear you’re great in Charms!” Brocklehurst said obviously trying to break the remaining tension, and Granger’s shoulders slumped in relief as she began to engage with the other girl enthusiastically.

Not just Gryffindors but _Ravenclaws._ Not just Gryffindors and Ravenclaws but a _Mudblood._

Draco wondered how much more Pansy would tolerate from him before losing her temper. He blinked a few times before trying to force himself to pay attention to the Charms debate that had taken over their table.

Oh, Merlin. What had he gotten himself into?


	5. Halloween

The following few weeks were fairly uneventful - excluding the gloriously wonderful howler Weasley’s mother sent him. It had screamed at him in front of the entire school the day after Flying Lessons, and Draco had munched on his toast happily and relished in the other boy’s humiliation.

On top of the howler, she had also sent Draco and Parvati personal apology letters and packages of fudge. Draco would have just sneered and burnt the letter ordinarily, but that wouldn’t have been a great look. So instead he passed the letter around to his yearmates - letting everyone read that _Molly Weasley_ had promised him that her son would be apologizing to him and would behave going forward.

As for the fudge… well it was free fudge, and it was unfortunately _delicious._ Draco’s sweet tooth was _legendary._ His mother even sent him care packages filled with all of his favorites fairly regularly. The only person he’d shared Mrs. Weasley’s fudge with was Pansy, and that wasn’t so much him choosing to share as it was her snatching some and glaring at him when he tried to protest.

Even funnier than the howler itself though was Weasley’s red-faced clumsy attempt at an apology, and from what he’d heard, his apology to Parvati had only been slightly more sincere. Obviously, allying herself with Draco had not endeared her to the other boy. Draco graciously accepted his apology however with a bright fake smile and even told him in front of all the students standing nearby that there were “No hard feelings, Weasley.”

Potter had looked embarrassed on Weasley’s behalf the entire time, and Weasley looked about two seconds from exploding at Draco’s public acceptance and apparent forgiveness.

The two Gryffindors had become the main subject of gossip among the first years, but Weasley’s transgressions easily overshadowed Potter’s. It was a bit of a conundrum really because Potter being forgotten in the face of Weasley’s boorishness was not at all satisfying. Potter had dismissed him and made a fool of him, and while Weasley’s suffering was sweet, Potter had been his main target.

He would have come up with a way to shift peoples’ focus somehow.

However, almost before they could blink, Halloween was upon them, and Padma Patil had waylaid him in between classes before dragged him away from a suspicious looking Pansy to a nearby alcove.

“I have a plan,” she said immediately as though Draco had any idea whatsoever what she was talking about.

“A plan for what?” He asked, and she just looked at him impatiently.

“A plan to get Weasley back for what he did to you and Parvati,” she said impatiently. Draco had a feeling she’d only added him to that sentence because she didn’t want him to feel bad. He was almost insulted.

“You were serious? I had assumed once he apologized, you all had just forgiven him and moved on.” Padma rolled her eyes at him as though he were being particularly dense.

“Please. As if that piss poor apology gets him off the hook. I’ve just been waiting for things to die down a bit, so people wouldn’t automatically suspect us.”

“Excuse me? What is this _us_ you speak of?” When had Draco agreed to be a part of this? He didn’t remember signing any contracts!

“You want to get back at him too, don’t you? I mean - I know you try to act like you’re above all that, but you’re still a _Slytherin.”_ Draco almost felt the need to defend his house before realizing that pretending Slytherins didn’t ruthlessly seek revenge on their enemies was a pointless endeavor.

“Why don’t you get your Ravenclaw friends to help you?” He asked curiously.

“Tsk. They’re too straight-laced. They would never even _consider_ breaking a rule, but I know you’re not like that.” Draco looked at her in a bit of a new light. She obviously didn’t believe he was full of kindness and rainbows like her sister did even if she seemed to think he was an overall decent person.

“What exactly are you going to do?” He asked warily, trying to stomp down on Tiny Draco’s budding excitement.

“I’m going to put Laxative Potion in his drink,” she said bluntly. “I got my cousin to send me a couple of vials.” Draco blinked back at her before bursting into startled laughter. Simple but effective.

“And how do you plan to do that?” He asked once he got himself under control.

“That’s where you come in,” she said. “You’re going to distract them. Leave the rest to me.” Draco thought about it for a moment. Distracting the Gryffindors wouldn’t exactly be a difficult endeavor. His mere presence was enough if he were being honest, but another thought occurred to him as he went to agree.

“Fine. I’ll help, but you have to dose Potter too.” She raised her eyebrows at him.

“Are you still angry about what happened on the train?”

“He’s also the reason Weasley got all riled up during Lessons that day. He was making all sorts of accusations before Weasley took over and escalated it,” he lied. Well, it wasn’t really a lie. Potter _had_ been making some pretty pointed statements, but the idea that Weasley needed an excuse to attack Draco and anyone who bothered defending him was laughable. This seemed to be enough for Padma though, and she scowled before nodding.

“Fine. I’ll do it.”

“At the feast then?”

“Yes.”

Nothing more needed to be said, and they emerged from the alcove together ignoring some of the startled looks they received from other students before walking in the direction of the Courtyard and discussing the study session from the night before.

They had barely taken two steps outside when Weasley’s voice met their ears loud and clear.

“She's a nightmare, honestly! It's no wonder she hasn't got any friends!” There was no need to question who the boy was talking about as Granger pushed past him and some of the other Gryffindor boys before storming back into the castle.

Now, Draco didn’t _like_ Granger, but that had been kind of harsh. Potter made a quiet comment to Weasley about her obviously overhearing them, and Padma let out a hissing breath next to him before grabbing the arm of his robe and dragging him over to where Potter and Weasley were standing.

Were they getting _involved_ in this!? Didn’t anyone mind their own business anymore!?

“I see you’re still behaving like a bully, Weasley,” Padma said coolly, immediately gaining the attention of everyone present. Weasley at least had the grace to look embarrassed, but Padma wasn’t done speaking. “First Draco on the train. Then he and Parvati during your Flying Lessons. Now Granger. She _does_ have friends actually. Not that you would know what that’s like seeing as Potter seems to be the only one who can stomach being around you.”

Draco was in love. Padma Patil was _brutal._

“We didn’t bully Malfoy on the train!” Potter snapped out before Weasley could gain his bearings. “I don’t know why you all think that’s what happened, but it’s not true!” Padma just snorted derisively, and Draco kept his mouth firmly shut intending to enjoy the upcoming showdown.

“My sister and I literally heard you two dismissing him. We _saw_ the aftermath. Do you think people just cry for no reason? You’re quite stupid, aren’t you.” Potter gaped at her like a fish, and Draco watched the two other Gryffindor boys that were with them shift slightly on their feet like they weren’t sure whether or not they should get involved.

“He was faking!” Potter finally yelped back, and Padma just rolled her eyes.

“Yes. I’m so sure. That’s why you and your little friend here have continued to make his school life miserable.” She turned her attention back to Weasley. “Obviously, your mother’s howler taught you nothing. Maybe I should write to her myself and tell her you just made another student cry.”

All of the blood seemed to leave Weasley’s face at the threat.

“We didn’t know she was there!” Potter protested.

“Yeah,” Weasley added weakly. “I wasn’t trying to hurt her feelings. She was just being annoying in class is all!”

“Really? How so?” Weasley obviously didn’t see this for the trap it was, and Draco watched in fascination as he dug his own grave.

“She corrected my spell work in front of everyone! It was embarrassing. She literally thinks she knows everything and the rest of us are all idiots.”

“So, she helped you in class, and therefore she’s annoying and terrible,” Padma stated blandly. Weasley snapped his mouth shut as he realized that’s pretty much exactly what he said and apparently just how unbelievably stupid it was. “You’re a bully and a horrible person, Ronald Weasley. And you’re no better, Potter because you just sit back and let it happen. Come on, Draco.”

The two Gryffindors Draco wasn’t familiar with seemed to be looking everywhere except at Padma and Draco, and Draco took the opportunity to send Weasley and Potter a smug smirk as Padma started dragging him back towards the castle.

“I can’t believe them,” she hissed. “It’s never ending! Thank Merlin it's almost time for the feast though. We’ll get them back.” Draco made sympathetic noises and proceeded to ignore the hysterically laughing Tiny Draco in his mind as they walked toward the Great Hall before splitting up to go to their respective tables.

He took a seat next to Millicent since Pansy apparently had yet to appear and listened to her talk about her cat as other students slowly trickled in. Not long after the feast began, Draco noticed Padma approaching his table with both Parvati and Lavender Brown and he frowned. They weren’t involved in Padma’s scheme. Why were they with her?

“Draco,” Parvati said when they neared his seat, “Hermione didn’t show up for dinner.”

Draco really wanted to ask why in Merlin’s name he was supposed to _care,_ but the concerned look on Parvati’s face and the frustrated look on Padma’s were enough to keep him quiet.

“She probably just needs some time alone,” he said, ignoring Pansy’s finger poking into his side.

“Parvati wants us to go look for her. I told her what happened,” Padma said. Draco kind of wanted to kick her. He was no longer in love. What happened to their plan!?

“What about -”

“Later,” she interrupted quickly. Lavender looked between the two of them with furrowed brows as Parvati just continued to look at him pleadingly.

“Fine,” he said, dragging out the word with a groan. Missing the Halloween Feast to search for a crying Mudblood. What was his life coming to?

“Draco!” Pansy hissed, obviously furious that he was leaving.

“Sorry, Pans. I’ll explain later.” She looked about two seconds from throttling him as he stood up and joined the other three girls to leave the Great Hall.

“Any idea where she is then?” Draco asked, hoping to find the girl quickly and get back to his food.

“No,” Parvati said, frowning. “Maybe we should split up?”

“Probably best,” Padma agreed. “You go with Lavender and check your Common Room and dorm. I’ll take Draco and check some of the bathrooms and abandoned classrooms.”

Parvati and Lavender quickly agreed before scrambling toward Gryffindor Tower as Draco turned to Padma indignantly.

“The bathrooms? I’m a boy!” Padma just stared at him as though he were stupid. That was becoming an unfortunate habit of hers.

“You don’t have to go in, Draco. I’ll check the bathrooms while you wait outside.” Draco settled down a bit at that even though he was still disgruntled about being dragged into this at all.

“We were supposed to punish Potter and Weasley, Patil,” he grumbled. “We had a plan!”

“Oh, hush Draco. We’ll just do it another day.” He glared at her petulantly. She had dangled sweet juicy revenge right in front of his nose, and now she refused to let him have any. Oh, he understood that it was only being pushed back a bit, but still! He’d been looking forward to that!

“We should check Myrtle’s bathroom,” she remarked absently as they closed the door to another classroom. “It’d be a good place to hide.”

“Who is _Myrtle?”_

“Moaning Myrtle. She’s a ghost who haunts the girls’ loo.” Draco stopped walking and stared at her.

“You have got to be kidding me.”

“Nope,” she said, popping the ‘p’ and continuing to walk down the empty hall.

“Well, let’s go there last,” he said, grimacing. A girl who haunted a toilet? He was going to have to pass.

“Here’s the first-floor bathrooms,” she said, ignoring his grumbling. “Wait here.”

“I wasn’t exactly going to follow you in,” he said bitterly as she walked through the door. He examined his nails with a sigh while waiting for Padma to re-emerge, so they could continue their search.

The door swung open, and instead of the girl coming back out into the hall, she reached out a hand and dragged Draco inside.

Draco will deny his high-pitched shriek until the day he dies.

“Patil, this is the girls’ bathroom! What are you doing!? We said I would wait outside! Let go before someone sees me here!”

“I found Hermione,” Padma said impatiently before continuing to drag him towards one of the stalls.

“Then bring her _out_ of the bathroom! Don’t bring me _in!”_

“No one else is here, Draco. Relax.” Draco eyed the bathroom sinks like they might come to life and bite him as Padma knocked gently back on the stall door.

“I’ve brought Draco, Hermione. We both know what Weasley said earlier, and it’s not true. We’re your friends. He has no idea what he’s talking about.” Draco turned and looked at her indignantly. Him? Friends with a Mudblood? Absolutely not! Just because he took advantage of her weirdly encyclopedic knowledge during study group did not make them friends!

“I don’t even know why I let him get to me,” came Granger’s voice interspersed with obvious sniffling. “I’ve seen how horrible he can be. I shouldn’t have even been surprised.”

Before Padma could continue, she and Draco both wrinkled their noses and brought up their hands to cover them. Before either of them could say anything, Granger opened the stall door covering her own nose with red-rimmed eyes and a confused look on her face.

“What -” The bathroom door opened, cutting her off. Draco immediately spun ready to spin any story he could to explain his presence in the girls’ bathroom when the sight before him left him frozen solid.

It was a troll, and it became very obvious very quickly that he was the source of the stench. Draco stumbled back into Padma as the Ravenclaw reached out and pulled Granger over to where they were standing. Draco had the hysterical thought that they were making themselves an easier target as he heard the door close and then lock behind it.

The troll’s club was dragging along the tile floor, and Draco could feel his breath coming in short panicked gasps as the thing took notice of the three of them and started stomping in their direction while raising his club with an angry yell.

Granger _screamed_ before shoving them both as they all ran for the side of the bathroom trying to avoid the swinging club.

Padma was babbling incoherently as they all tried to scramble for the door before having to backtrack when he blocked their path.

“Hermione!” Two horrified voices yelled, and Draco almost snapped his own neck turning to see Weasley and Potter now inside the bathroom with them.

Draco had the almost mad thought that they had obviously summoned the troll here in an effort to kill them all.

“Wait, Malfoy!?” Potter yelped, but Granger was screaming at them to do something before he could continue which sent Potter’s attention back to the actual matter at hand. You know? _The fucking troll._

Draco and Padma had grabbed on to each other when they were separated from Granger, and somehow before Draco could fully comprehend what had happened, Potter somehow ended up _on the troll’s back_ with his wand up its nose. _‘What a brave conquering hero…’_ he thought to himself sarcastically as he and Padma tried to take cover beside the other set of stalls.

Granger and Weasley were yelling at each other about their latest Charms Lesson of all things, but before he could start screaming at them to shut the hell up and do something useful, the troll smashed to the ground after being bashed in the skull with his own club.

“Is it dead?” Granger asked shakily, as Padma and Draco tip-toed out of hiding to try and make their way to the other side of the bathroom where Granger, Weasley, and Potter were standing in front of the door.

“I don’t think so,” Potter spoke up. “I think it’s just been knocked out.”

“What are _you_ doing here, Malfoy?” Weasley asked as Potter pulled his wand out of the troll’s face. Draco heard Padma gag next to him and honestly couldn’t blame her. How _disgusting._ Before he could even try to formulate his response to Weasley, the bathroom door was thrown open, and a furious McGonagall burst in followed by his obviously angry Godfather and an apparently terrified Professor Quirrell.

McGonagall turned on the Gryffindors immediately barking out questions as Severus quickly walked over to Draco with a bloodless face waving his wand over Draco’s body.

“Are you injured?”

“We’re okay,” Draco responded shakily, including Padma in his reply. The girl was half hidden behind him, and Severus waved his wand over her as well before dropping it to the floor and pulling Draco into a hug.

Sounds of shock erupted from the Gryffindor section of the room, but Draco didn’t care and buried his face in his Godfather’s shoulder. He’d thought he was going to _die._ He could feel tears coming to his eyes, and he heard Granger go back to trying to explain to McGonagall what had happened before her words actually registered in his brain. He pushed back from Severus who picked up his wand and stood up again slowly as Draco turned to Granger and McGonagall angrily.

Potter was staring open-mouthed at his Godfather as though he’d suddenly morphed into a troll himself and started doing ballet.

“That’s not what happened!” Draco snapped, interrupting Granger’s rambling explanation. “We didn’t even know there _was_ a troll!”

“Draco!” Granger exclaimed, sounding horrified. Draco ignored her.

“Padma and I were looking for Granger because Weasley over there insulted her earlier and made her cry. We found her in here, and then _that thing_ appeared.” Draco said pointing at the unconscious troll emphatically.

“Ms. Patil?” McGonagall asked with a pinched face. Padma nodded.

“It’s true, Professor.” McGonagall turned back to Granger with a stern face.

“Would you care to explain why you felt the need to lie to me, Ms. Granger?” Granger looked as though she were about to start leaking tears again any moment.

“I’m sorry, Professor! It’s just - they saved me - no they saved _us._ I just didn’t want them to get into trouble!”

“We wouldn’t have needed saving if Weasley hadn’t made you cry in the first place!” Draco snapped.

“It seems these two are making quite a habit out of _bullying_ other students,” Severus said snidely. The irony of Severus calling anyone out on bullying wasn’t lost on Draco, but Severus was on his side at the moment making it hard for him to care.

“Five points from Gryffindor, Ms. Granger, for lying to a teacher. Fifteen points from you, Mr. Weasley, for insulting another student. However, I will also _give_ five points to both you and Mr. Potter here for attempting to aid your classmates though you’re lucky you weren’t killed.”

Potter and Weasley looked suitably cowed, and Draco glared at them as Severus ushered him and Padma out of the bathroom.

Granger might be ready to sing their praises for that pathetic excuse of a rescue, but Draco was not. One look at Padma’s frowning face assured him that she wasn’t either.

He couldn't believe he was almost killed by a troll! Wait until his father heard about this.


End file.
